You're Almost Here
by Reckless in Forks
Summary: This is one shot set in AU New Moon and will not be updated as it is complete. Bella knows Jacob is a werewolf and that Victoria is after her, but she hasn't gone cliff diving yet. She gets a visitor late one night that changes everything.


**Author's note: The premise and the characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. This is only fan fiction and makes no claim of ownership.**

A rustle in the trees and the creak of her old wooden window stirred Bella from a deep sleep. She sat up, squinting her eyes as she stared uselessly into the black room. Why were the curtains suddenly drawn?

"Jake?" Bella croaked out, reaching for the lamp on her bedside table. She groped beside her, finding nothing on the table but dust and keys. She pulled her arm back under the warm covers and heaved a sigh. "Can you let a little light in? I can't find the switch."

The silence that followed was infuriating at first, but became terrifying. It flooded the room with a dreadful hum. Bella wanted to tell him to knock it off and that he wasn't being funny, but something about the silence was all wrong. Bella felt her chest tighten and her breathing quicken.

Charlie snored obliviously as Victoria had slipped through the window Bella kept cracked for Jacob. Recognition and terror seized Bella as her gaze settled on the hunter's eyes as they adjusted to the darkness, but she couldn't scream for fear of waking her father and risking his life. All she knew is that she had to get out of the house, and fast. Her arm shot out almost instinctively and she clenched onto the keys to her truck on the nightstand. The cold metal cut into her hands as she balled a tight fist around them.

"Go ahead. Run." The white teeth glinted menacingly from behind the wicked smile. Bella didn't hesitate to obey no matter how futile the action seemed.

Exiting the house noiselessly was impossible in her panic. All she could do was pray that Charlie would not wake as she sprinted out the front door and into the cab of the truck. The engine came alive like a monster as she slammed the keys into the ignition. Punching the gas caused it to lurch backwards thunderously and she turned the wheel too sharply to steer out of the driveway. Bella bounced in her seat as the undercarriage slammed into the curb and skidded into the street. Muttering curses under her breath, she threw the car into drive and pressed the gas pedal against the floor.

The tires squealed in protest against the slick pavement as she turned onto the highway towards La Push. She would never make it. Victoria probably wanted to wait until there was a faint hope of reaching Jacob before swooping in and ending this nightmare. Despite everything Bella did have hope, and she smiled in satisfaction at the thought of reaching Jacob. Maybe Victoria would miscalculate how far hope would drive her forward. Bella wished a lot of things right now, but most of all she wished she could tell Jake how she felt in this moment. She was no stranger to near death experiences, and she knew the clarity that they brought. The love for Jacob washed over her completely. Her hope faltered, and she gripped the steering wheel tightly as she choked on the thought of him never knowing how right he was.

The engine spluttering to silence ripped Bella away from her thoughts, and she twisted the key frantically in the ignition. Her eyes darted to the gas gauge. As she read it her heart sank into her stomach.

Empty.

She must have punctured the gas tank when she hit the curb in her haste to escape. The small hope that was building was suddenly lost and she slammed on her brakes after steering towards the shoulder of the road. Flinging the door open, Bella entered the cold and cloudy night on foot. With all of the energy she could muster, she fled to the safety of the trees. A sickening cackle followed close behind her.

The night-darkened forest went whipping by Bella's peripherals in flickers of evergreen and black. The branches and twigs outstretched from the arms of the trees slashed violently against her arms and cheeks, but with every blow she was propelled faster into the blur. The moss on the stones beneath her feet threatened to betray her balance and send her into a wounded heap on the ground. Rain began to filter down through the canopy, making her way all the more treacherous. She willed her legs to keep moving, her feet to keep steady, her lungs to keep breathing, her heart to keep beating. She wasn't just running for her own life. She was running for Charlie's. And she was running for Jacob's, too. Anything to get her as far away from that house as possible and closer to the safety of the reservation. The thought never left her mind that it was pointless to run from vampires. Victoria was probably perched up in the trees somewhere, following along effortlessly and savoring the struggle below her.

"You're almost here." In her moment of need, Edward's voice had evaporated and the crystal clear voice of Jacob appeared in it's place. She gasped and stumbled at the shock hearing his voice, teetering dangerously. Her hands stretched out in front of her for balance, but they met with a mossy tree trunk on the side of the path. She tried to cling to it and find her footing. It was in vain. Her head slammed into the coarse bark and everything went black.

* * * *

"Jump, boy! Jump!"

The horrible laughter throbbed inside Bella's head. Too loud, too close. Everything ached and felt wrong, and she wasn't quite sure what had happened. She felt the rain dripping off the tips of her fingers but there was something off about it. First she clenched her fists, and they responded and flexed at her command. As she tried to move her legs, she found that they were stiff and unresponsive. She felt an intense pressure around her ankles that was cutting off the circulation to her feet. What happened? Her eyes fluttered open and fought to focus, but the world was spinning wildly around her.

"Looks like your puppies came out to play," a voice coming from below her said. She looked down and saw Victoria crouched on a branch underneath her, gripping her ankles tightly and dangling her high above the path. Only Victoria wasn't beneath her, she was above her holding her upside down above a pack of circling wolves.

"Put me down!" Bella shouted without thinking, and Victoria laughed viciously before obeying. She felt the air and the branches snapping past her before she was jerked to a sudden, painful stop. Victoria had fluttered down a little in the treetops to catch her.

"Tsk, tsk," Victoria said, digging her feral nails into the soft ankle flesh. "Let's be careful what we ask for. I know it's not the ideal way I wanted to kill you, Bella, but their weakness is climbing trees. This is much more fun, don't you think?"

Bella cried out in pain, writhing in the vice hold that was threatening to snap her ankle bones. Her mind raced, but as desperately as she wanted to live, she could see no way to survive. She had made it to where the wolves could find her, but they were as helpless as she was right now. A desperate howl came from the forest floor, and her eyes shot downwards to find Jacob.

He had already phased back to his human form. His cutoff shorts were stained and wet, and his hair was tousled and messy. Jacob. Bella found herself smiling because now she knew she'd be able to tell him everything before it was over. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as she watched him dig his hands into the bark of the tree and began pulling himself up.

"No, Jake, don't!" she found herself crying, waving her arms uselessly in protest. "She'll kill us both!"

"I won't let you die like this," he grunted, struggling to find a foothold as he made his way up the trunk. Her head was pounding too much to argue and she went limp in defeat as she watched him ascend towards them. Sam, Paul, Jared, and Embry were pacing nervously below him in their wolf forms, letting out sharp barks in dissent of his decision. Victoria found great amusement in this rescue attempt, and Bella's hanging body began to tremble as she snickered.

Jacob climbed for what seemed like an eternity before he reached the branch below hers. His eyes burned hatefully into the vampire and he braced his back against the trunk of the tree. Victoria straightened from her crouch and leapt, landing on his branch without a sound. Bella dropped with her like a rag doll and she groaned loudly as she began to lose sight of the world again. Victoria inched closer to him, her grin stretching wider and wider across her face. With a mock gasp, she released her hold on Bella before swinging effortlessly at Jacob's side. He only had a few moments to take in the horror of Bella falling to the ground before he was smashed sideways out of the tree. He flew through the air, thinking of how much he loved her, before he collided with a tree.

Sam had already phased back and positioned himself quickly under the falling girl. He caught Bella, but she went dark again as she plowed into his arms with a loud smack. Sam didn't have time to worry about his freshly broken ribs or if she was okay, so he quickly rested her against the base of the tree before his skin shimmered and a black wolf appeared in his place. As he looked back up into the trees, there was no hint left of the firehaired vampire.

_Damn_, Jared cursed.

_That's getting really old_, Paul complained.

_Hiding in the trees is cheating_, Embry added.

_Enough_, Sam snapped through the chatter. _We have to get them back to La Push._

* * * *

Halfway through the jog to Emily's house, Jacob awoke and demanded that Paul put pants on next time before carrying him to safety. Paul set him on his feet with a somber chuckle and they all ran in defeated silence to the inhabited parts of the reservation. Jake kept stealing worried glances at Bella as her arms swayed unconsciously in Sam's arms. His head was swirling with horrible thoughts. What if he had arrived only a little sooner? Or worse, a little later? He shuddered and decided he wouldn't think of it. He couldn't think of it. Losing Bella was not an option right now. Instead he began counting how many strides it was taking to reach their refuge.

As they reached the steps that led up to the porch, Sam set Bella on the soft ground and rushed inside to get Emily.

"Please get decent before she comes out," he called as he rounded the corner to the bedroom he shared with her.

"Oh come on, like it's the first time she's seen us naked," Paul said with an eyeroll before pulling his shorts on.

Emily emerged from the house with Sam, carrying some washrags and a small basin full of water. She set the brimming bowl down on the steps, sitting beside Bella's head and dipping the towels into the steaming liquid. She looked up and tossed one to Jake, her scarred face contorting with a cringe.

"You look like hell, Jake," she said, taking the other washcloth and mopping it against Bella's forehead.

"I feel like hell," he mumbled, rubbing the cloth over the healed cuts caked with blood.

"So, no luck with the bloodsucker?" Emily asked.

"No," Sam answered, tensing his muscles and gritting his teeth.

"We ran into her on one of our patrols, and it's a good thing we did," Paul explained. "Bella faceplanted into a tree and that stupid redhead had been following her."

"Charlie..."

Bella's voice was faintly whispering now, and her eyelids fluttered as she fought to regain consiousness.

"Bella!" Jacob cried, rushing forward to hold her. Jared grabbed his arm before he could reach her, afraid Jacob would crush her with his hug. Jacob thought he might too, so he stopped at Jared's touch. They still didn't know if anything was broken.

"Charlie..." Bella repeated, reaching up to swat the towel away from her head. "Charlie's still at the house. She's going to kill Charlie."

Sam exchanged glances with the rest of his pack and nodded quietly. "We'll go check the house. Rest."

"I'm staying here, Bella needs me," Jacob said as the others began jogging back toward's the forest edge. Sam only gave a quick nod before he disappeared completely.

Jacob staggered forward and collapsed on the steps on the other side of Bella, his forehead creasing with concern as he surveyed her tattered clothes and torn skin. Nothing looked too swollen or broken, if you didn't count her giant fat lip and the blood on her forehead. After he had taken the time to assess the damage, he finally let his eyes collide with hers. She was staring up at him thoughtfully with an expression he had never seen before. He couldn't find a word for what it looked like. Adoring? No, that didn't quite do the look justice.

"I'll leave you two alone for a few," Emily said, breaking the silence and shattering their eye contact. She winked at Jake before she handed him the bloodied rag and headed inside.

"Jake?" Bella whispered, pulling his attention back down to her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," he breathed, patting the washcloth against the cut on her forehead.

Bella hesitated a moment before continuing. "Is it too late? Am I too late, I mean?"

Jake felt his eyebrow arch in incomprehension. "What are you talking about?"

"For us," she said quietly, staring at him intently.

"Bella, you always do this when you hit your head. You gotta stop," Jake said with a frown.

"Stop what, hitting my head?"

"That would be nice, but you honestly can't keep telling me things that get my hopes up if you want me to only be your friend," he answered, dropping the soiled cloth into the basin beside her head.

"I...I don't just want to be your friend," she said, reaching her hand up and grabbing his. She let their fingers interlace, giving his hand a feeble squeeze.

"Bella, you don't know what you're say--"

"I love you, Jake," she interrupted, biting down on her lip as she thought of all of the words she wanted to say.

"This is touching, really," a voice called out from the darkness, "but I'm done playing."

Victoria.

Strips of Jacob's shorts fell onto Bella's chest as he phased and lunged without pause at the vampire in the shadows. She clutched a spare piece in her hand and she watched in frozen horror as the fight began. They whirled around each other in a silence that was only interrupted by slams and the ferocious snapping of teeth. It was impossible to see who had the upper hand. At some moments, Victoria stood perched over the russet wolf ready to strike with a death blow. But the tables would turn and Victoria would be crushed against the wall of the house, shaking the wooden frame, with Jacob's formidable jaw ready to clamp onto her throat. Bella had to watch helplessly, and she hated it. She wanted look away but her eyes were drawn to the melee in front of her. The pack had taken on Laurent. The PACK. But this was just Jacob.

Emily rushed outside after hearing the commotion and immediately placed herself defensively in front of Bella. Bella shook her head wildly, grasping for Emily's arms, pleading with her to move back. There she was, the wolf girl, putting herself in between the vampire girl and danger. But Bella wasn't the vampire girl anymore, she was a wolf girl now, too. There was no need for Emily to do this now. She pushed herself off of the steps and moved past Emily, walking boldly towards the fray. If anyone was going to die, it was going to be her.

Bella walked forward in the rain, the water soaking her cuts and opening the wounds up freshly as she moved. This was enough. Victoria snapped her head to the side, her instincts taking over as the smell of blood greeted her nose. She took one leap towards Bella, who snapped her eyes shut to brace for the impact. But it never came. Jake flanked to the side of the firehaired vampire and sank his teeth into her neck with a sickening snap. The muscles disconnected and the head rolled grotesquely on the soft ground at Victoria's feet.

And it was over.

As if on cue, the rest of the wolf pack emerged in a full sprint from the forest and helped Jacob shred the final pieces of Victoria. Limbs flew in the dull moonlight, landing with disgusting thuds on the ground. Was this many pieces really necessary? The fire in her red eyes had been extinguished, and they stared out cold and black on the ground. Bella sank to her knees on the ground, rocking back and forth muttering, "It's over, it's over..." While the rest of the wolves phased back to build a fire, Jake dropped his wolf form and stood watching her corpse smolder as he steadied his breathing. Sam saw Bella had sunk to the ground, so he walked across the yard after tossing the last chunk of flesh into the fire and pulled Bella up to her feet.

"Charlie's fine, Bella," he said, "but it looks like you were the one still in danger after all." She could only nod.

Jake's breathing had finally evened out and he took a deep breath while he put on his human clothes and rushed to Bella's side. Sam knew without a word that they'd need a moment, and he went to Emily to hold her close.

"What were you thinking?" Jacob said angrily, stroking Bella's hair out of her face.

"I couldn't let you die for me, Jake, I need you," she said, finally letting emotion overtake her. Sobs tore from her throat and she threw her arms around him. As much as she should have been sobbing for the nightmare that just unfolded in front of her eyes, she felt that she was actually just sobbing with relief. No more vampires. The adrenaline finally began to fade from her tired limbs and she needed the warmth of his body to keep from shaking. She pushed herself closer to him.

"I love you, Bella," he whispered against her hair, hoping that what she had said before the fight was what she actually felt.

She pulled back from their embrace and let herself smile behind her tears. "I love you, too, Jake."

And finally, for the first time, she leaned in and pushed her lips against his. This was the kiss that completed her. There wasn't a hole in her chest anymore and she took in deep breaths as they kissed to make sure she was whole again. She was. There was only Jacob.


End file.
